Pathline (21 page)

R
une gave a small gasp.  "A
S
hielder?!" she whispered. 

W
raith nodded solemnly
.
"I haven't been able to confirm, but a
S
hielder-
C
harger combo is considered pretty close to
unbeatable
as you know. 
B
ut
S
hielders are so damn rare, I'm hoping it turns
out to just be a scare tactic on Mana's part
;
but we can't take the possibility lightly, if by some chance the guy's actually got a
S
hielder in his corner then we need to come up with some sort of contingency plan." 

She agreed and was about to say something when she noticed that Jasper
,
the drunk from earlier
,
was making his way towards them.  She nodde
d in his direction and she and W
raith turned towards the approaching man. 

"I know who you reminded me of" the man said, pointing at
R
une. 

S
everal people nearby turned to watch. 

"
Y
ou look just like that
W
anderer from the news, the one that's been banging Malik." 

S
he maintained her composure, giving a disbelieving scoff and looking down at her body as if attempting to see the resemblance. 

"You have got to be kidding"
W
raith said, taking a step towards the drunk
.
"
M
y girl here is much hotter than that bitch
.
" 

A few of the people watching laughed. 

"
Y
eah Jasper, her hair's all wrong and she's got a kinder face" said the woman that had brought her the drink from
W
raith. 

One of the men nearb
y laughed and came up to Jasper.
"
M
an get your head out of your ass, she looks nothing like Malik's floozy, you're just mad someone beat you to her
.
" 

More laughs from the group. 

Jasper got angry and pushed the man away which only led to
further
laughs from those watching. 

"
S
he's the spitting image, how do we know the agency didn't send her here to spy on us?" 

A roaring wave of laughter met this. 

"Oh year Jasper, the agency sent a
W
a
n
derer here to spy on our
nothing little town, to what?  D
iscover your secret beer fried fish recipe?" 

T
he whole place was paying at
tention now, most laughing
,
but R
une noticed a couple of people near the counters that were watching the exchange with straight faces. 
Outsiders
. 
W
raith noticed them too. 

"Ok
ay
, come on baby girl, why don't we go find ourselves someplace more private so we can give this man some peace of mind"
W
raith said, holding her hand and leading her towards the exit. 

Most people laughed at that, then began to settle into their previous conversations. 

T
hey continued walking together down the street after they left. 

"I owe you
W
raith, thanks
” Rune
said after they'd walked a distance.

"
Y
ou don't owe me anything, we watch out for our own.  You okay?" 

S
he gave a sarcastic laugh.
"
H
ell of a spy I make huh?  I got recognized and almost made by some white trash drunk." 

H
e stopped and put an arm around her shoulders.  "
T
his will all die down girl, don't you put much bearing on it. 
T
he community has made it through worse
times;
we'll make it through this, all of us, together. 
W
e've got your back" he said, giving her a quick peck on the cheek. 

They separated when they reached the end of the block, each going their own way. 
S
he needed to get eyes on
M
ana again, find out as much as she could about his movement before
she and Blythe were set to
report back with the unit tomorrow afternoon. 
I
t was a long night. 
S
urveillance work allowed too much time to think, and she had too much to think about. 
H
ow had things gotten this out of control? 
S
he didn't want to be angry at Malik, and she was wr
e
cked with guilt over what this must be doing to his reputation, but a part of her blamed him. 
I
t was stupid, she knew, but he was just so naive to think that something like this wouldn't happen. 
A
nd
R
ook...
she remembered all the things he'd said to her while they were growing up, all his rants about the government and public opinion. 
S
he dreaded what he would say when he found out the full scope of what was going on. 
A
nd the unit, how many would agree with the protesters
?  B
ut what bothered her most, what haunted her throughout the night
,
was the thought of other
Wanderers. 
Maybe B
lythe was right and she'd just been the most convenient catalyst, but there was a reason
W
anderers kept to themselves and stayed out of the limelight. 
B
y tying herself to a figure as public and recognizable as
M
alik she had single handedly put every
W
anderer in danger. 
S
he had managed to reawaken the hatred that had swept the nation
sixteen
years ago. 
B
y the time the sun started streaking the sky with color she
felt
completely drained. 

She
and
B
lythe met at the diner she'd eaten at the previous morning, neither speaking much. 
T
hey compared notes on the information they'd gathered and then left to confirm the previous
day’s
intelligence
before their scheduled check-in return with the agency. 
She found Mana again and shadowed him the rest of the morning.  There was one interesting meeting she observed between Mana and a haggard looking man wearing a sunhat which kept his face hidden from her.  From what she could see the man looked like he was in his fifties, with sun weathered skin
,
and dressed like he was used to spending time on the beach.  A local contact she figured. 
T
he man didn't seem the boss type, although you could never be sure
from looks alone.  Though
the casual demeanor in which the two men interacted supported her idea that this man was merely another player in the game. 

She watched the meeting carefully, intent on catching any reference about the job they were working or who they might be working for.  She also paid close attention to the older man, hoping something in his demeanor or actions might indicate a super class.  Could this possibly be the rumored Shielder?  She highly doubted
it;
Mana wouldn't risk so public a meet with so important a colleague. 
This man did not have the presence of a Defender, and he was much to
o
laid back for a Runner;
t
he two most common classes. 
T
he only time she sa
w
any sort of
emotional
reaction from the older man was when a passerby made a joke about the news reports concerning the Wanderer protests.  The man showed a burst of anger and annoyance,
and then
quickly laughed it off dismissively. 
So, you're a Wanderer
.  It made sense that the boss or bosses would prefer to use a Wanderer to relay information
rather
than risk the potential of being intercepted on phone or net communications. 
They would most likely call Mana with a time and location for a meet then give needed order
s
via the Wanderer in person.  The meeting only lasted about half an hour, but Rune got the distinct impression of two things.  First was that the job was moving forward
soon
and secondly that the bosses wanted Mana to stay put.  She wasn't sure what to make of that, but it became apparent that if the agency wanted to get the drop on Mana they would have to move
quickly
. 

She wandered to the location the agency had sent to her sat-com.  The agencies advance unit had already set up a base camp a few miles outside of town to use as a command center for the op.  The local agency branch
was
providing the necessary support.  Blythe arrived a minute after her.  Th
e
y were each debriefed separately and asked to pinpoint important locations on the operational map of the area so that command could get a better picture of the situation.  It was all very routine, but Rune kept thinking of the information that command had been keeping from
the unit
;
it made her feel somewhat more comfortable about the information that she was keeping from them. 
We all lie, we all keep secrets.
  Was it all justified?  The games everyone played, the way information was manipulated by all those who handled it, twisted and bent in the way that suited their needs best. 
She was tired of all the games. 

After all of their
intelligence
was cleared they were ordered to return to the unit and report to their tactical teams.  Command would be briefing Serk and Malik on the information they believed was pertinent to the op. 
Rune had not revealed that she and Blythe had caught the news report, and based on Blythe's demeanor she figured he hadn't either.  They found out the unit had only arrived that morning.  They'd been given field
data
to help prepare their assault, so now the additional surveillance information would be added into the plans.
 
Since the agency wanted to maintain a low profile on the assignment they were keeping the members of the unit out of sight at the local agency branch offices.  They were given access to two air transport helicopters and various ground vehicles and equipment. 

Command agreed with Blythe's idea to use the field for cover and sent out containment units to surround the area and had their PR rep come up with some cover story to give the local police department.  Rune was more concerned, strategy wise, with how they would lure Mana to the location. 
H
e didn't strike her as the type to run, so they couldn't scare him towards the
site
.  He seemed very much the stand and fight type to her.  Not to mention that
he
was a wet work
mercenary
with a tough reputation to uphold.  No, they would need some other way to get him to move into the location they needed him to be in for the take down.  Then a sudden thought occurred to her,
the bimbos
.  Mana liked women; in the time she had spent watching him he was rarely without some pretty girl on his arm.  The guy liked money, the guy liked power, and the guy like women. 
S
he could definitely see a weakness there that she could manipulate. 
The more she thought about it the more it made sense, this was their best shot.  She knew Rook and Malik would never go for it, and she knew some of the others would take the plan the wrong way, so she decided to keep it to herself for now. 
Who know
s
, maybe they'll come up with something better
. 

Since Malik would be with Serk discussing information and strategy with command she set out to find Rook.  She tracked him down at the branch's communal area, sitting on his own reading a book.  He put the book down when he noticed her walking towards him.

"We need to talk" Rune said as she reached him.

He glanced around.
"
N
ot here, is there somewhere we can go?"

She thought about it, she had worked with this branch on two previous occasions.  She gestured for him to follow her.  They made their way through the building then out a service door at the back.